ABSTRACT
Two centuries ago a multi-volume Encyclopédie crowned the efforts of French humanists, an enterprise which aimed to reveal all secrets of knowledge and technology, liberating minds from fear, ignorance and prejudice, and prodding imaginations towards the role of science and technology in promoting civilization and a universal brotherhood of humankind. Since then there has been enormous progress in all fields of knowledge, each becoming so specialized that the worlds of science and humanities drifted apart. The latter years of the twentieth century again witness a rapprochement among fields of knowledge, the central focus now shifting from humanity to the earth itself While the marvels of science and technology are still applauded there is a pervasive doubt over humanity’s capacity to use them wisely. Quite in contrast with the eighteenthcentury Promethean image of humanity as creator and master, there is today a pervasive image of humanity as Narcissus, pondering over the many contradictions between ideal and reality of its diverse achievements, seeking to remember forgotten features of human nature and rediscover wiser ways of dwelling.
